Forbidden Touch

by K. S. Haigwood

  Mitch blinked a few times. Lazarus had said that he had confronted her, and that she knew of him and his many skills. But Ciera had said that he had known her longer than he had Lazarus. One of them was lying. He couldn't swear that Ciera hadn't ever lied to him, well nothing big anyway. But Lazarus had been lying to him his whole life. Lazarus had gone to work for the Police Department not long after Mitch had took the job in homicide. The guy hadn't said anything then, and it seemed that the more he thought about it, Lazarus had always been around him. It was weird how Mitch's partner just up and decided to transfer a week before Lazarus was released to come back to work off medical leave.

  He tossed in the comfortable bed. The mattress wasn't the reason he couldn't sleep. He wished that he hadn't ever been assigned to the serial case. It actually seemed that it was inevitable; he was destined to do that case and become what he was now. A vampire.

  He finally found a comfortable position and drifted off to sleep...with Ciera on his mind.

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  Chapter 41

  They had been traveling for a while, and had actually had several civil conversations with each other. Ciera found, as she listened to Dane talk, that he was actually an outgoing and down-to-earth individual. She had pegged him for simple minded, but he actually had a very educated mind with many dreams. Of course, he had mentioned several times that she was his biggest dream. For some reason, she wasn't repulsed by the thought of being the star in Dane's dreams, day or night. Just about everything he talked about doing one day included her there with him. And as he talked more and more, she found that she would enjoy doing most of those things with him.

  She was beginning to think that Mitch had gotten better control over his skill, because they had passed Salt Lake City, UT, and was almost to Dane's friend's house. They had been on the road for more than six hours without her feeling so much as a tingle. It was fully dark now. Then she felt it.

  She went very still, and Dane stopped talking. "He's pulling you to him again, isn't he?"

  Ciera nodded nervously.

  "Well, fight it! Try not to go. He is only going to make you feel bad again, Ciera," he said.

  She shook her head. "I'm trying, but there really isn't anything I can do about it." And with that last word, she was pulled out of her body and to Mitch.

  When she opened her eyes, he was all wrapped up in the arms of a woman. Ciera gasped, and before she thought about what she was doing, she was on top of the girl and pulling her hair back from Mitch's mouth. She froze as she realized that she was looking at her own face. Mitch was gawking at her to.

  She was in his damn dream. She picked the other Ciera up and tossed her to the floor. The other her instantly disappeared. She looked back at Mitch, who still had his mouth gaping wide.

  "So…" she said, crossing her arms over her chest, "you can be mean to the real me, but you conjure up a fake me to make out with?" She rolled her eyes. "That's not right, Mitch."

  He blinked a few times. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  Ciera growled. Sometimes the subconscious wasn't aware of what the conscious knew. He was probably in denial about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. His subconscious wouldn't pick up on something, if the mind was trying to keep it out.

  She turned her head to the side and looked at him. "So you aren't mad at me?"

  Mitch held out his arms to her as he lay on his bed. He was already half undressed, and oh, how she wanted those pajama bottoms to come off the rest of the way. She went to him without another word. Her lips met his hungrily, and he quickly put her underneath him. He kissed her neck, and when her top got in his way, it disappeared. He kissed his way down to the soft mounds of her breasts, and when her bra got in the way, it vanished as well.

  Ciera was thinking how cool it was that he could do that in his dream, when he took her nipple in his mouth. The moan escaped her throat instantly. No man had ever gotten this far with her, and she was so glad that she had waited for Mitch.

  "Wake up Mitch!" a man's voice shouted, and Mitch's head shot up and looked at Ciera.

  She shook her head. "No Mitch, don't go. Stay here with me."

  The whole bed began to shake. "I don't think I have a choice. I don't know what is happening."

  When Ciera sat up, she realized that she was fully dressed again, and that Mitch was fading from her sight. "Remember that you aren't mad at me. Remember that you love me, Mitch. I didn't do any of those things. They took you away from me. Believe me."

  Mitch woke up to Lazarus shaking him. He sat up quickly, and Lazarus stepped back from him with a grim face.

  "I sense that your little dream walker has been visiting you. Don't let her fool you. She isn't at all what she seems." Lazarus walked to the bedroom door, then looked back at Mitch. "C'mon, son, you have much to learn."

  There was something about that dream. He knew Ciera had been there. The real her. He had summoned her spirit to his dream. He hadn't been upset with her at all. He raised his brow as the image of her, shirtless and braless, popped into his mind. She had felt so good beneath his body, and he was almost positive that she would have let him go all the way. Of course it wouldn't have been real, because it was only a dream, but it had been real to her. That had really been her in his subconscious.

  He needed to get hold of Alice, but he didn't want Lazarus to know anything about it. There was something strange about the guy that he just didn't trust. He may indeed be his father, but that didn't matter to him one little bit. He hadn't been around his whole life, and if he found out the guy was lying about all of this, he wouldn't care if he never saw him again.

  He held onto Ciera's words. Somehow he found truth in them. "Remember that you aren't mad at me. Remember that you love me, Mitch. I didn't do any of those things. They took you away from me. Believe me."

  He wasn't sure what to believe, but he was going to let Lazarus believe that he believed him. He had a feeling that things would not go in his favor if the guy knew he was having doubts. Time to try out his acting skills, he thought, and got out of bed.

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  Chapter 42

  Dane was pulling in the driveway of a very large house when Ciera opened her eyes. She looked over at him, and noticed that he wasn't happy.

  "What's wrong?" She whispered.

  He wrinkled his nose, but didn't look at her. "Nothing," he said shortly, then parked and got out of the car.

  She got out and made it to him before he reached the door. She noticed that there were a lot of vehicles there, and that the music coming from inside the house was loud. They were having a party, and she and Dane were crashing it…sort of. She grabbed his arm and spun him to face her.

  "Why are you angry with me?" she asked.

  He turned his face up to the night's sky. The stars were shining brilliantly above them. It would be the perfect setting for a romantic night, except the girl he wanted to spend a romantic night with had just got finished doing God only knew what with the vampire of her dreams. And it wasn't him. "I noticed that Mitch isn't upset with you any longer, that's all. Drop it, Ciera. We are attending a party. Party goers are typically happy." Dane smiled, then walked the rest of the way up the walkway to the door. He knocked, then looked back to Ciera, who was standing where he'd left her. "You coming?"

  She got almost to him when the door opened. The most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes on was standing in the open door. She had long blond hair, and her dress was stunning, but extremely short.

  Ciera froze as she noticed the look in the woman's blue eyes. She gazed at Dane like she wanted to peel his clothes off him slowly, one layer at a time. The image before her, made her a little jealous. It was insane, because no more than five minutes ago she had been running her fingers through Mitch's hair as he caressed her breasts. She couldn't possibly like Dane in the same way she did Mitch.

  The woman glanced her way briefly and smiled cunningly before stepping down in f
ront of Dane. Her eyes locked with his for only a moment before she kissed his lips softly. "It's been a long time, Dane. I've missed you." She stepped back from him and glared at his attire. "You aren't dressed for the party. No big deal," she said casually, "your clothes are still where you left them." She gave Ciera a quick look, and smiled. "I think I might have something that will fit you." She actually looked Ciera up and down, then smirked.

  Ciera raised one eyebrow. Wow, she wasn't going to like this vampess at all. The woman took Dane's hand in hers and led him into the house, leaving Ciera to follow them on her own.

  Ciera walked into the most immaculate and exquisite mansion she had ever been in. And she had been in her share of mansions. She hadn't noticed, but Dane was no longer standing with her and the other woman. He had disappeared, and the woman was looking at her intently. She didn't recognize the look in her eyes.

  "My name is Lenya. If you'll come with me, I will dress you…" She looked down then up Ciera's body again, but this time it was done a little differently, almost seductively, Ciera would have guessed if the idea hadn't been so absurd. "... appropriately," she finished, then took Ciera's hand in hers, leading her up the stairs.

  "So…are you and Dane together?" Lenya asked as she shut the door to her very impressive bedroom. Ciera could see the master bath through a set of French doors. And through another set of French doors, she could see an enormous private balcony. The balcony from the Disney movie "Aladdin," that was off Princess Jasmine's bedroom chambers, came to mind. Was this Lenya woman some sort of Princess? She didn't know that there was royalty in the vampire world, well, besides the Elders, of course, but maybe she didn't know everything there was to know. Maybe this Lenya woman was one of Utah's Elders.

  "Ah…" Ciera shook her head. "No. He is part of my Family."

  Lenya looked surprised. "Oh, so you are a Finder as well?"

  Ciera nodded. "What do you do?"

  Lenya smiled. "I am Lenya. I don't do…anything," she said, then opened a door that Ciera assumed was a very large walk-in closet and disappeared into it.

  "I'm sorry, I haven't heard of you…Lenya." Ciera said in a normal voice, but she knew the other female vampire would hear her just fine behind the walls of her massive closet.

  Lenya appeared in the doorway of her closet and turned her head to the side. "Dane has never mentioned me to you before?"

  Ciera shook her head. "Not that I can recall, but Dane and I haven't been the closest of friends over the years."

  Lenya squinted at Ciera, maybe trying to figure out if she was lying or not. Then she walked to Ciera with a dress in her hand. It was heavily sequined in black and silver, and Ciera could tell instantly that it was just as short as the dress Lenya had on now.

  In Lenya's other hand, she held a pair of four inch silver stilettos. If she hadn't been a vampire with incredible balance, she was sure that she would break her neck before the night was over. "Undress," she said.

  Ciera wasn't used to dressing, or rather undressing, in front of other people, but it didn't look like she was going to get a choice in the matter. Ciera took her shirt off and folded it neatly, then took her jeans off and laid them on top of her shirt. She started to take the dress from Lenya, but the woman shook her head and smiled.

  "Your bra, too. This dress is a spaghetti strap, and your bra under it would only look tacky." She stood waiting.

  Ciera huffed and turned around. She reached behind her and undid the clasp that held her bra together. She felt Lenya touch her back and she went very still.

  "You have a very beautiful body. I can see why Dane is so besotted with you." When Ciera didn't respond, Lenya giggled. "Oh, you aren't aware of my skill, are you? I can read feelings, and I am aware that you are in love with him as well."

  Ciera covered her chest with her arms and turned on Lenya. Lenya didn't even waste a second before she kissed Ciera smack dab on the lips.

  Ciera was too stunned to move. This was not something that she expected from this woman. A strange feeling came over her, and she found that she was kissing her back. Her blood was racing through her veins, and she felt like she was floating.

  Lenya pulled back out of the kiss and smiled at her. Ciera's head was still spinning. "I guess I forgot to mention that I can control the feelings of others as well. I would love to try that again sometime when I am not influencing you." She went to the bed and sat down. She held out the dress to Ciera. "Get dressed. Dane will be along any minute now. He will be upset that he didn't get to play with us."

  Ciera jerked the garment out of Lenya's hand. She didn't have a single word in her head that would come out of her mouth. She wanted to scream. She had walked this earth for over three centuries, and had never even had the urge to kiss a woman. Now one influences her to actually enjoy it. There were no words. And what bugged her most was that she wanted to do it again. Was she still being influenced by Lenya, or was she actually feeling that on her own?

  She quickly dressed, but there was a problem. She couldn't reach the zipper in the back to zip it up, and she didn't want Lenya touching her again. The Lord only knew what the woman would try next. But she didn't have to ask. Lenya walked over and zipped her up, then walked over to the vanity table.

  Ciera turned and looked at her. "I'm not in love with Dane. We are actually on our way to Illinois to rescue the vampire I am in love with."

  Lenya shrugged her shoulders. "You can lie to yourself, but I can see straight through to that pure heart of yours. You are in love with two men Ciera. I don't have any suggestions on how to fix your little problem either. Come here so I can do your hair and make-up.

  Ciera huffed, but did as she was told.

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  Chapter 43

  "Where did you go this morning?" Lazarus asked Mitch, as they walked down the long staircase of the huge basement.

  "Oh, uh, I just needed to clear my head. A week ago I didn't even know vampires existed. Now I am one. I could have killed that girl yesterday…and I probably would have if you hadn't said something to me. It bothered me a little. I have always worked homicide, so taking another person's life hasn't ever been something I had to worry about…" He lowered his head, and his voice, "... until now. Thank you." He glanced nervously at Lazarus when they reached the bottom of the stairs and put boot to concrete.

  Lazarus studied him for a few moments, then smiled. "Of course, and when you do accidentally kill your first human, you can always come to me. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't help you bury the body?" he said, then flashed his pearly whites.

  Mitch forced himself to laugh, and prayed that it didn't sound as phony to Lazarus as it did to him. He'd never been good at lying, but he had a feeling he needed to work on that skill around Lazarus. "I'm hoping I won't ever have an accident and have to bury a body, but thanks for the offer."

  Only one side of Lazarus' mouth came up in a grin. "And I hope you're right," he said, then turned and walked down the long hallway.

  Mitch noticed, as he walked behind him, that the hall wasn't straight. It curved in a big circle, and there were doors, every so often, on each side of the narrow hallway. "What do you use all of these rooms for?"

  Lazarus shrugged his shoulders. "I don't use them for anything anymore. Before I met your mother…well, let's just say that I wasn't the nicest vampire in the city of Decatur. I was an Elder once." He opened one of the doors. The room was empty except for a small table and two matching chairs. He sat in one and Mitch took the other. "I'm sure Ciera mentioned who the Elders are in the time she spent with you. Am I right?"

  Mitch shook his head. "No, she mentioned a few things about her family. That they would kill us if they found out I knew about this other species. But the only thing I remember her saying about the Elders is that some of them can kill a mortal just by looking at them a certain way."

  Lazarus seemed to be studying Mitch again, then he sighed and nodded. "They are very powerful indeed. It only took me a little over a c
entury to realize that I didn't want to abide by their laws. I've been Rogue ever since. They cannot find me. I have an extraordinary blocking system. And I assume that you do as well. You are, after all, my blood son."

  "So, how do I find out what I can do?" Mitch asked, and Lazarus smiled.

  "We already know you are immune to the sun. And you have discovered that you have the skill to pull spirits."

  Mitch's eyes got wide. How the hell did he know that?

  "I wasn't born yesterday. I am a vampire, and my hearing is rather keen. I could hear you shouting at Ciera, like you were in my room doing it. You are strong when you are awake, but when you dream your subconscious isn't aware of what is going on in reality. You are most vulnerable while you sleep. I will teach you how to turn it off, so you will not pull her to you unless you want her to come. We can't have your subconscious buying in to her lies, Mitch. It will make you weak."

  Lazarus was right, Mitch thought. He was ready to kill Ciera before he had drifted off to sleep, and then turned around and almost had sex with her in his dream. When Lazarus had woken him, he found he still wanted her, and almost trusted her again. Weak was the last thing he needed to be when she got back to Illinois. He didn't know who to trust at the moment, so he wouldn't trust anyone.

  "Teach me everything," Mitch said.

  Lazarus laughed. "That's my boy."

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  Chapter 44

  Ciera gazed at the reflection looking back at her out of the seven foot tall mirror. She couldn't remember herself ever looking so sexy. Lenya had put all of her long hair up in a French Twist, and what hair that had been coming out of the top of the twist, she had curled in about twenty five ringlets. Her make-up was expertly applied, and the dress clung to her body like a glove. Overall, she was stunning.